When patrons walk out of Cornish Pasty Co. in the Arts District, they are hit with a wall of construction, fencing and black tarps.
“It just been a complete nightmare for us,” co-owner Kimberly Bender said.
It’s been a rough summer for businesses in the Arts District, with ongoing construction curbing customer traffic in the area.
The summer months are always a slow time for businesses in the Arts District, said Josh Kellman, board president of nonprofit 18b Arts District, and construction on Charleston Boulevard is hindering business further.
“The construction is causing a little bit more people to stay away from the area,” said Kellman.
The $49 million “Charleston Storm Drain” project funded by the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, Regional Transportation Commission and the city of Las Vegas has led to a drop-off in traffic to Arts District businesses.
Cornish Pasty Co. has been directly impacted by the construction as crews work on the infrastructure project directly in front of the business. There has been a 20 percent drop in sales from last summer, Bender said.
“Lunchtime business, it’s so hard to find parking, and then you know you have your one-way streets,” she said. “It kind of made it more difficult for people also to gain access to us.”
The two-year project includes the installation of new storm drain infrastructure on Charleston from Maryland Parkway to Commerce Street. intended to reduce flooding in the area during monsoonal weather, the city said.
While business and pedestrian access has been maintained throughout construction, there are 24-hour lane restrictions, with traffic reduced to one lane on some parts of Charleston Boulevard.
“The closer to Charleston you are, then you’re going to be more greatly impacted by the construction,” said Keller.
Also, starting on Monday, Main Street will be closed on the south side of Charleston Boulevard for around three weeks, according to a news release from the city of Las Vegas. This includes marathon 24-hour workdays from Monday to Aug. 15 while large box culverts are installed, then 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily for the following two weeks.
Following the construction on Main Street, it will move one block away to Commerce Street.
During this time, motorists should expect delays, with Oakey Boulevard and Bonneville Avenue recommended as alternate routes for east-west travel and Las Vegas Boulevard for north-south.
Main Street Peddlers Antique Mall owner Sarah Collins said sales are down 30 percent. Normally, Collins makes 50 transactions on weekdays, 100 on weekends.
“I’ve had eight credit card transactions today. I have 7,500 square feet,” said Collins on Thursday. “The best day that we had last month was First Friday … We had to stay open an extra four hours to make some numbers.”
Construction is nothing new to Collins, who said she was one of “a few” businesses to survive when Commerce and Main Street went from two-way traffic to one-way in 2017. Although, she said “this is worse.”
The city has been communicating with Arts District businesses to update them about the ongoing construction, said Keller. Additionally, the contractor, Harber Company Inc., “is working as quickly as possible to get the huge box culverts in place,” said the city of Las Vegas in a statement.
“The work that’s being done is not done to specifically, obviously, hurt a business. It’s being done because it’s infrastructure that needs to be done,” said Keller.
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.
